Darfur – Divestment.

A bill that would allow U.S. states to divest from companies doing business in Sudan could hurt international efforts to end the violence in war-torn Darfur, Bush administration officials told a Senate panel on Wednesday.

The pending Senate bill aims to put economic pressure on Sudan to stop the violence in its western Darfur region, where an estimated 200,000 people have been killed since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.

“Such a list likely will be viewed by our allies as a U.S. government ‘blacklist’… and therefore as an unwelcome effort by the United States to expand the scope of our sanctions,” Szubin said in written testimony.

“Such a list seriously risks alienating the very countries whose assistance we need to maintain and increase international pressure on the Bashir regime,” he said.